


Bein' Friends

by Comrade Lucia (Quantin_of_the_Lethe)



Series: The Adventures of Lucia [8]
Category: Mother 3
Genre: Gen, Kumatora is a great sister, Lucia realizes her parents weren't as supportive as she thought they were, Mental Breakdown, Post-Canon, Schizophrenia, Sibling-Like Bonding, Trans Female Character, Trans Girl Lucas (Mother 3), We're your family now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27523045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quantin_of_the_Lethe/pseuds/Comrade%20Lucia
Summary: Lucia and Kumatora have a heart-to-heart.
Series: The Adventures of Lucia [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1994812
Kudos: 11





	Bein' Friends

"Wait for me, Kuma!"

"Not my fault you're a slowpoke!"

"Slowpoke? I'm in a _dress!_ "

"And who's fault is that?"

Lucia panted as she clambered up the log that Kumatora had shimmied across without breaking a sweat. Deep in the forest, her adoptive sister had ensconced herself across the creek atop a rock that would require an advanced course in rappelling from anyone not Kumatora, and Lucia was absolutely not Kumatora. She tried to keep up as much as she could, lest the whispers catch her off guard.

The forest was not a good place to be alone.

 _No thinking about that right now,_ she thought. _You're here to spend time with Kumatora._ She climbed to the ledge, and sat next to her.

"I sure picked a good spot, huh?" the older girl said. "So what did you wanna come out here to talk about?" She swung her legs. "Not just to chill, I assume."

"Eh heh..." Lucia rubbed the back of her head. "No."

"Well, out with it!"

Lucia took a deep breath. "Kuma, I...I wanted to ask you about, well...about being a girl. And how to be one." Kumatora just looked at her with a blank look for about five seconds, before realizing she was being serious, and that she was supposed to answer.

"Um...well...do you think I'm the right person to ask about that?" she asked back.

"Do you see any other girls in my life? At least ones I could trust?"

"Fair, it's just...weird being trusted."

"Well, seeing as we survived the end of the world together, there aren't many others I trust more than you."

"Wow, Lucia," Kumatora marveled quietly. "Thanks."

"So, um, about being a girl..."

Kumatora waved her hand. "You're doing fine."

Lucia frowned. "Kuma..."

"Look, all you need to know is that there isn't a correct way to be a girl. Your mom was a pretty great girl."

"I don't want to think about my mom," she responded brusquely. Her harsh, clipped tone took Kumatora aback.

"Woah, where did that come from?"

"I said, I don't want to think about Mom, Kuma!"

Kumatora looked at her completely seriously. "Okay, we don't have to," she said. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was--"

"I _can't_ think about my Mom!"

"Not since you saw her in...?"

"No, like recently. Every time I see Mom, she's telling me how wonderful a boy I'm going to be."

Five seconds of silence. The creek babbled below them. A bird chirped. Kumatora made a small _ah hah_ sound of realization.

"She didn't know then, you didn't know then," Kumatora tried to say calmly, but Lucia interrupted her violently. "She would _hate_ me!"

"Hold up, that's not true," she said. "You said to me after you returned from the...hereafter that she had accepted you."

"That could've been a dream for all we know."

"It could've, it could've not."

"MY MOM'S DEAD, KUMATORA!" Lucia screamed. "SHE'S DEAD! I SAW HER DIE! I FELT HER DIE! I FELT HER LAST HEARTBEAT! I BURIED HER! THESE...THESE _VOICES_ TOLD ME SHE'S DEAD! THERE'S NO WAY I ACTUALLY TALKED TO HER, OR HELD HER HAND, AND THERE'S NO WAY SHE ACTUALLY ACCEPTED ME! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! I'M DELUSIONAL FOR EVEN THINKING SHE WOULD! SHE WANTED ME TO BE A _BOY_ , SHE WANTED ME TO BE A _MAN_ , SHE KEPT TELLING ME NOT TO _CRY_ , SHE--" At this point, Lucia buried her head in her arms, sobbing. Kumatora just sat there and listened. She'd learned better than to try and stop one of Lucia's fits.

Lucia's rage found another target. "I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE FLINT AGAIN! I HATE THAT MAN! I HATE HIM! IF I EVER SEE HIM AGAIN, I'LL, I'LL, I'LL--" She clutched her head as if it was about to explode. The trees were screaming.

"LUCIA!" Kumatora yelled, gently smacking her cheek. That shook her out of the episode before things got out of control. Lucia panted, still crying, trembling. She felt something soft against her. Kumatora wiped the tears out of her eyes with her shirt sleeve, and was holding her close.

"I made a promise," she said, "when I saw you that one day."

"You also said you knew my mother would love me!"

"Do you trust me!? Or no?"

"Yes," Lucia muttered.

"So trust me now. I made a promise to you. That I would love and support you. Have I ever strayed from that?"

"No."

"Because," Kumatora said, taking Lucia's hand gently, "that's what being friends is about." She gave her a smile of reassurance. "I love you. Claus loves you, in his... _own_ way. Duster certainly cares about you. And of course Boney loves you. We're your family. We've been your family for what feels like...so, so long now."

Lucia rubbed her arm. "I...I guess."

"Are you scared we're not going to accept you?"

"Yes."

"C'mon, really? At this point? Claus already said he does. I have. Duster has. Who else is there? Or rather, who else is there whose opinion on whether you're a girl or not matters?"

"Me."

Kumatora knew she'd run into that problem. "You're not bad for thinking that, just to let you know. You haven't exactly had the most...supportive upbringing, looking back on everything."

"That's why everything's been so hard, is realizing that," Lucia said. "I thought they loved me. But they didn't."

Kumatora's heart broke. She didn't know what to say to that. She didn't want to say "Well, they tried their best!" or something similar because she knew, from experience, the worthlessness of those words.

"But we love you. And I understand if it takes a while for you to trust me on that. But we're still going to love you anyway, and maybe if we show you that love, you'll start feeling that love for yourself."

"Yeah," Lucia said, looking distant. "Maybe."

Kumatora clapped her on the shoulder. "C'mon, let's go home."

Lucia breathed deeply, then said, "Yeah. I'm ready. Let's go."

"Into the wild blue yonder?" Kumatora smiled, offering her hand.

"You betcha," she responded, taking it.


End file.
